1
   

Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

 
 
fishin
 
  1  
Reply Wed 1 Aug, 2007 07:15 pm
sozobe wrote:
My mom says there are local reports of deaths -- I mean that's unsurprising, but I haven't seen that reported anywhere yet.


The local news here is reporting that 30-40 construction workers were on the bridge working at the time in addition to the usual cars.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Wed 1 Aug, 2007 07:20 pm
Oh really? I initially thought it would have to be catastrophic, hopes were lifted slightly for a while there, but now it's looking more and more catastrophic.

My mom has been listening to the Hennepin County Medical Center press conference, I'm sure she'll have a lot of good info but I really need to get to bed.

I've gotten in touch with my dad and he's fine too.
0 Replies
 
littlek
 
  1  
Reply Wed 1 Aug, 2007 07:41 pm
Geez! I worry every time I cross the Cape Cod canal that the bridge will do just that. It'd be a lot farther down.
0 Replies
 
mikey
 
  1  
Reply Wed 1 Aug, 2007 09:51 pm
they painted it last year if you remember K and the rust is worse than ever. i take the other bridge as often as i can due to less traffic and that one ain't in much better shape.
0 Replies
 
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Wed 1 Aug, 2007 10:33 pm
construction going on? uh oh....
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 01:10 am
According to latest (local) news, 9 are dead, 60 injured, and 20 still missing.

That's really terrible.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 06:44 am
I'm amazed that some people seem to have made the drop and survived, without serious injuries. It's one of the shorter distances between bridge and river on the Mississippi -- there are bridges further down the river that are maybe 3X as high up.
0 Replies
 
woiyo
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 06:46 am
Incredible...reports confirm only 4 dead?
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 06:50 am
I've seen lots of different numbers -- 7, 9.

Last night my mom (who is a nurse and works near the site of the collapse) said:

Quote:
Henn Cty Med Ctr has received 22 serious, 6 critical and 1 dead. They are only getting the people that were on the south side of the river; north side went to North Memorial - three Level 1 trauma centers in the cities.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:01 am
The bridge was 64 feet above the water, evidently, so I don't think any other Mpls bridges are 3 X that high. Maybe 2 X though.

64 feet ain't nothing. <shudder>

Has there been any footage of the actual collapse? It sounds like it may have been somewhat gradual rather than a dead drop.
0 Replies
 
old europe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:04 am
CNN now has some footage of the actual collapse, here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/02/bridge.collapse/index.html#cnnSTCVideo


Looks like the middle sections just dropped down.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:07 am
Oh man...

Thanks, old europe.

Yeah, that's a drop alright.
0 Replies
 
parados
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:22 am
Before they started the road construction and closed the ramp at the end of the bridge I went over it every day commutting to work.

The road construction was just resurfacing so they weren't dealing with the structure. I did go over the bridge twice that day and noticed they had recently poured concrete on the center section. The north end of the bridge was covered with plastic and they were wetting it down. I couldn't tell if they had poured and were curing or were still prepping.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:26 am
I don't think I knew you were in Minneapolis, Parados...

Sure glad you're OK.

I've seen varying reports on whether there was any structural stuff going on. I saw something about how the bridge's "joints" were being worked on. Lots about the resurfacing. I also saw a report that a jackhammer was being used just before the collapse happened.
0 Replies
 
parados
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:35 am
They had been doing a lot of jackhammering the previous 6 weeks. There were days I probably saw 12-15 jackhammers going at one time. Plus there had been a lot of heavy equipment on the bridge. All that equipment was off the bridge yesterday and parked up on ramps which was probably a good thing for the cars that went down.

The word here from Dept of Transportation is nothing structural.

It sounds like they were in the middle of changing work crews with the night crew coming on. Only one worker missing. There were times I saw 40 workers or more standing on the bridge. One of the bits in the StarTrib this morning was the project manager for the work was on the end of the bridge and fell 30' but walked away.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:38 am
parados wrote:
One of the bits in the StarTrib this morning was the project manager for the work was on the end of the bridge and fell 30' but walked away.


Wow.
0 Replies
 
sozobe
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:41 am
Quote:
Cracking, vibration may have contributed to collapse, former NTSB official says

By Pat Doyle, Star Tribune

Last update: August 02, 2007 - 8:00 AM

Investigators looking into the cause of the Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge collapse are likely to focus on two primary causes -- vibration and fatigue cracking, the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said in an interview early this morning.

Jim Burnett said they should look at whether vibration from the construction work and from a train that was passing under the bridge contributed to the collapse.

"Vibration is one of things that cause cracking to propagate," he said. "They will be looking at that."


(That's just an excerpt, there's more.)

http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1339411.html

I noticed that train in one of the pictures. That makes sense.
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 07:49 am
Of course, news here are full of that, and people questioning if such could happen here, too.
According to engineers, such is most impossible in Germany (and Europe), since we don't have such bridge constructions.
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 08:00 am
Anyone remember the collapse of the Silver Bridge?



The Silver Bridge was an eyebar chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and was named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga, Ohio (near Gallipolis, Ohio) over the Ohio River.


The collapsed Silver Bridge, as seen from the Ohio side.On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed while it was choked with rush hour traffic, resulting in the deaths of 46 people. Investigation of the wreckage pointed to the cause of the collapse being the failure, due to a small defect, of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain. It was also noted that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than usual.
0 Replies
 
FreeDuck
 
  1  
Reply Thu 2 Aug, 2007 08:01 am
Following.
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

baby, I'm amazed - Discussion by dyslexia
Franken is Challenging This Vote - Discussion by cjhsa
New Terror Attack Thwarted - Discussion by edgarblythe
Information technology - Question by logansmommy07
Court rules Franken wins Senate Seat - Discussion by parados
Suburb of the Twin Cities - Question by myarmhurts77
Funny Business in Minnesota - Discussion by Woiyo9
 
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 11/06/2024 at 05:34:58